The Pequa Society, Undated, Historical Sketch

The Pequea Society was organized September 15th, 1938, at a meeting held at the Pequea Presbyterian Church in Salisbury township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Among the two hundred persons attending were members of the congregation, descendants of Pequea pioneers now living in many other communities, and friends of the church.

The Pequea Presbyterian Church has a history that extends over a period of more than two hundred years. It is now being studied with interest by noted historians.

The first pioneers came into the Pequea Valley as early as 1709. For the -most part they were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, most of whom were enterprising and outstanding in ability. Striving to create a community in a wilderness, they accomplished their purpose in a comparatively few years. Home, school and church having been firmly established they followed the pursuit of culture and made progress therein comparable with any other section of the Colonies.

Adversities were overcome. Wars were fought, attested to by graves of many distinguished soldiers in the Pequea cemeteries From Colonial times, through the Federal and Civil War periods, and down to the present, each succeeding generation of Pequea families has improved the community, the farms and houses, and the church. During all these years names of Pequea communicants have been written upon the records of the General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church in America, the Congresses of the United States, and the Legislatures of many of the individual States. The military records of the Nation, the archives of its institutions of learning, the rolls of the learned professions, and the pages of history generally, lead back in an ever-increasing number to Old Pequea.

The people of Pequea are justly proud of their heritage. And just as proud are the hundreds olf persons living throughout the world who trace their ancestry to the pioneers of Pequea.

It is the aim of the Pequea Society to aid the present congregation of the historic church to preserve its history, to honor the memories of its faithful and distinguished dead, and to collect data concerning every period in its progress during two centuries.

Many graves at Pequea have too long been neglected. The Society will endeavor to bring this condition to the attention of descendants, and to lend a helping hand with the work of restoring records as found od the marble and granite in the cemeteries.

The famous Whitefield Walnut Tree and the large spreading White Oak which marks the spot where the original log church stood both need tree surgery; if money becomes available it will be attended to by the Society. Another suggestion that has been made is to appropriately mark the building that once housed the far-famed theological seminary of the Rev. Robert Smith. Many other worthy matters will command the attention of the Society as the years pass.

The Pequea Society depends entirely upon those interested for financial support. Annual dues have been fixed at one dollar. Ten dollars pays for a life-membership.